


the one wherein Alec is Ironman

by villiageidiot



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Alternate Universe - Marvel Cinematic Universe Fusion, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Boys In Love, Crack Treated Seriously, Enemies to Lovers, Forbidden Love, Insecure Alec Lightwood, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:21:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27744421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/villiageidiot/pseuds/villiageidiot
Summary: Alec swipes through the slides on the central screen, looking for the new schematic. It’s much too fast for anyone else to register the equations and formulas and preliminary sketches, but Alec knows what each says without stopping because, well because he’s Ironman. He’s the smartest man in the room.Well, mostly. He needs Simon’s approval on this one, which it pains Alec to say. Or to even think. But Simon’s got a doctorate in this type of thing and he’s not giant and green and monosyllabic and violent right now, so Alec needs to take advantage of it while he can.But then Magnus Bane pops up on the screen.Alec’s hand hovers, his fingers refusing to swipe no matter how much his brain chantsgoddammit don’t do this now, Alec.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 20
Kudos: 76





	the one wherein Alec is Ironman

**Author's Note:**

> for SHBingo 2020-2021

Alec swipes through the slides on the central screen, looking for the new schematic. It’s much too fast for anyone else to register the equations and formulas and preliminary sketches, but Alec knows what each says without stopping because, well because he’s fucking Ironman. He’s the smartest man in the room.

Well, mostly. He needs Simon’s approval on this one, which it pains Alec to say. Or to even think. But Simon’s got a doctorate in this type of thing and he’s not giant and green and monosyllabic and violent right now, so Alec needs to take advantage of it while he can.

But then Magnus Bane pops up on the screen. 

Alec’s hand hovers, his fingers refusing to swipe no matter how much his brain chants _goddammit don’t do this now, Alec_.

Magnus, the God of Mischief, the man that almost wiped out half of New York two years ago.

“He’s not aiming for New York anymore,” Captain America says. “I think he’s got his eyes on the whole damn planet now.”

Alec blinks and feels his heart stutter. “He’s what?” Alec asks, trying to keep both the interest and the disappointment out of his voice. He thought Magnus was past that, thought maybe he, maybe _they_ –

But he’s not really sure how to read Cap today. Sometimes Jace is the consummate soldier, ready to carry out whatever suicidal mission the Institute throws at him. But then there are the days that the Institute pisses him off and he does any damn thing he wants.

“No,” Black Widow says, pulling Alec from his thoughts. She’s playing with the metal snake bracelet that winds up her arm and gives Alec a knowing look. “He’s in New York. Not doing anything. Just hiding out, I think, no maniacal plans at all. He’s actually –”

Alec swallows. “Wait, Magnus is in New York?”

Izzy can’t keep her knowing grin from spreading, and Hawkeye stifles a laugh, though she tries to hide it by turning her head away and letting her long red hair hide her face.

Izzy raises her eyebrow but Alec stares at her impassively. It doesn’t matter than he’s half in love with the man that tried to destroy the city. Hope is dangerous, almost as dangerous as Magnus himself.

He turns back to the screen and swipes right.

*

Alec flies over the city in his metal suit, scanning the apartment buildings for a very specific heat signature. Magnus has powerful alien magic coursing through his veins so his heat signature makes him very easy to find.

He’s in a penthouse suite, which is just so predictable, and Alec steels himself as he aims for the patio. He sees Magnus through the open doors, back towards the patio and leaning over a table, working on something Alec can’t see. Magnus straightens as he hears Alec’s metal suit land on the cement. He doesn’t turn.

“You can’t be here,” Alec says, but the words don’t come out sharp or commanding like he thought they would. They’re soft and quiet and _goddammit_ this is not how Alec wanted this to go. He silently commands his helmet to open and push backwards into the rest of his suit.

Magnus turns finally and meets Alec’s eyes. “Well hello, Ironman. How have you been?”

“Magnus…”

“I can’t be anywhere else,” he says finally. 

And Alec gets it. Magnus is probably a wanted criminal on several planets, including his own home planet Edom. But he’s a wanted man _here_ , too, and Alec can’t figure out why this is the one Magnus would choose as a hideout. It’s not safe for him here but he doesn’t seem to care.

And then Alec does something wildly stupid. He steps fully out of his suit and stands there in front of Magnus, completely exposed. There’s a metaphor there, Alec is sure, because those walls that Alec puts up for the rest of the world with a salty expression and cutting remarks, they’re always down when he’s with Magnus. He steps out of his suit and feels those walls crumble.

As he takes a few steps further, Magnus tenses, and something shiny and metal on the table behind Magnus catches Alec’s eye. “What’s that?” he asks sharply.

“Nothing,” Magnus says, tone deceptively calm.

“Dammit, Magnus, what kind of weapon are you making?” It’s long and thin, and though Alec can’t see it, he knows it’s got to be deadly if Magnus is involved.

“It’s not a weapon,” Magnus argues, eyes flashing yellow.

“You know I have to confiscate it,” Alec sighs. And this is why he doesn’t hope that maybe someday – it’s so much easier to be sarcastic and biting and sharp to the cameras, to be Ironman. The alternative is feeling vulnerable and exposed to a fucking _supervillain_ , to be just Alec Lightwood.

“It’s not a weapon,” Magnus repeats, much more forcefully _._ “That’s not who I am.”

Alec raises an eyebrow. “Oh really? The incident in New York says otherwise.”

“That wasn’t –” he starts, then shakes his head and lowers his gaze. “You wouldn’t understand.”

And Alec means to say, _What’s there to possibly understand?_ Because there’s no justifying that. People are either good, or they blow up a damn city. But what he actually says, for no logical reason whatsoever, is, “Then help me understand.”

Magnus’ eyes dart back up to Alec, surprised. “It’s – you don’t know what he’s capable of. Asmodeus is…” But he trails off and Alec is left to wonder what Asmodeus is. _Who_ Asmodeus is. There’s so little Alec knows about Magnus’ home planet or the people there.

“Asmodeus,” Alec echoes. “He’s your – I mean, are you two, is it –”

Alec knows just how obvious he’s being, but what he doesn’t expect is for Magnus’ eyes to flash angrily. “I’m _nothing_ like him, Alexander. Nothing.”

“Okay, okay,” Alec says, hands up and appeasing. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to pry.”

When Magnus doesn’t say anything, Alec realizes he’s maybe stayed too long, and heads back to his suit and the patio. “Magnus,” he says against his better judgment, “Don’t do anything stupid. Whatever that is, don’t do anything with it.”

“Sure thing, Ironman,” Magnus replies with the familiar teasing lilt he’s used on Alec so many times before.

And Alec – he just snaps.

He turns back around and takes a few strides until he’s got Magnus’ face gripped too tightly in his hands. And then Alec leans in to give him a bruising kiss. Their teeth clack and it’s harsh and heated, but it’s been years in the making and he just doesn’t care. As he realizes that he has no idea what Magnus is thinking, and that maybe Magnus doesn’t want this as much as Alec always thought he did, Alec tries to pull back. Magnus wraps his hands into the hair at the nape of Alec’s neck, though, and deepens the kiss, slows it down so that it’s less intense and more… intimate.

Which is the thought that finally manages to pull Alec out of the moment. The God of Mischief, the man that attacked New York, he doesn’t know how to be intimate. Alec is delusional and weak and so naive.

He disentangles himself from Magnus’ arms and climbs back into his suit, watching Magnus’ eyes the entire time. On goes the suit, up goes the wall.

Alec takes flight and hovers in the air just past Magnus’ patio, and though he’s got his back to Magnus, he inherently knows that Magnus followed him out. Alec lingers there, not sure what he’s waiting for.

“You’re here,” Magnus says eventually. “That’s why I stay.”

Alec still doesn’t turn to look at him. “You shouldn’t be here,” is all he says. It’s easy to say as Ironman, impossible to say as Alec Lightwood.

He takes flight and leaves the apartment behind him.

*

It doesn’t even take an entire day to backfire. It’s early the next morning when he gets called into the Ops room and sees the rest of the Avengers crowded around a screen.

“Chicago,” Jace says over his shoulder. “Someone’s attacking Chicago.”

Alec’s mind flashes back to whatever the hell was on Magnus’ table and feels defeated.

“Okay,” Izzy says as she leads the others back to the table and they all sit. “We need a plan.”

“We need to know who’s responsible,” Jace says with a pointed look in Alec’s direction.

“It wasn’t him,” Alec says, a confidence in his voice that’s not really justified.

The whole room looks at him and he’s pretty sure he doesn’t imagine the pity on their faces.

“What happened to that mean and sarcastic asshole that everyone hated?” Simon asks the room. “Where’s that Ironman?”

“Oh no, everyone still thinks he’s a sarcastic asshole,” Clary counters. “I think it’s only the people in the room that knows how soft he can be.”

“In a very specific scenario, maybe,” Simon says.

“More like with a very specific person,” Jace counters before looking back to Alec. “This is dangerous, Alec. If the city – the _world_ – knew about your irrational thing for a supervillain, it could be bad for all of us.”

Alec’s face is expressionless. “It’s not a thing.”

(And it’s not a thing. It’s not. It’s just that when they first encountered Magnus Bane in the middle of the attack on New York, Alec froze for a moment while he took him in, the gold eyes and the smoky black color around them; the styled hair, dark but with red highlights that caught the light from the fire around them; the dark embroidered jacket outside of an unbuttoned shirt, exposing a sliver of golden skin; the wide shoulders and toned arms visible even through his jacket; the slender fingers with black polish wielding a ball of fire –

And then he snapped back to reality when those slender fingers hurled the ball of fire straight at his face.

Although, okay, maybe it eventually became a thing after that.)

“It’s not,” he says again, mostly to remind himself. “It’s not a thing.”

There’s a collective eyeroll that Alec chooses to ignore. “Oh, Alec,” Izzy says.

Jace stands and takes a few steps towards Alec. “I don’t care if it’s a thing or not; no one does. I agreed to super-secret German experiments, he turns into a literal monster, and she was an assassin that killed just, like, _everyone_ ,” Jace tells him.

“Hey!” Izzy says.

“Really uncalled for, man,” Simon says.

“All I’m saying is that no one’s judging you. But the world can’t know. _Magnus_ can’t know.”

Alec keeps his face blank but something in his eyes must clue them in.

“Alec,” Jace says slowly, “He doesn’t know, right?”

“Alec, tell me he doesn’t know,” Clary says, also standing.

Alec doesn’t say anything for a few moments. “He – he might know now.”

“Oh my god,” Simon says, pinching the bridge of his nose. “This isn’t happening.”

Alec looks around the room and gives a look that’s probably looks less assuring than he means it to be. “It’s not him,” he says. “He was in New York yesterday.”

“Sure, sure,” Simon says. “And it’s not like he totally doesn’t know how _to fly_.”

The room breaks out into a heated discussion and Alec says sharply, “Look, I’ll take care of it. You find out what we’re up against, come up with a plan, and I’ll take care of –” he pauses, “– Bane.”

*

When Alec lands on the penthouse patio, Magnus doesn’t even look surprised to see him. In fact, he looks pleased, and he shoots Alec one of his coy smiles. “Well hello, Ironman,” he says. But his face falls as Alec’s mask retracts and he sees Alec’s expression. “Alexander?”

And in Magnus’ hand is whatever weapon he promised Alec that he wasn’t making. It stands there, some kind of crystal emanating a white glow from the top of a metal spear, and in his other hand is a small gold object.

Alec steps out of his suit, for no fucking discernible reason at all except that he wants to, and says, “So what – this is fun for you, your bullshit ‘mischief’? Screwing with my head? Trying to show the world you’ve got some power over Ironman and the Avengers?” His anger fades almost immediately when he sees the confused look on Magnus’ face. Alec deflates and feels embarrassed and so, so naive. “Am I just a game to you?” he whispers.

Magnus’s eyes flash in a way Alec was wholly unprepared for. There’s the gold, sure, but there’s also red and black and silver. It’s slightly terrifying, and Alec remembers how powerful and dangerous this man is. It’s so easy to forget because he’s never the genocidal Bane when it’s just Alec; he’s always been Magnus, the flirty alien from Edom.

“Here,” he grits out, grabbing Alec’s hand and dropping the small metal object into his palm. “This is a ring for you. It’s made out of the fire and ice of Edom, and if you activate it, it’ll protect you from most alien forces, at least the ones I’ve faced before.” He then grabs Alec’s other hand and passes him the crystal-topped spear. “This is for you and your precious _Avengers_. I could only make one but I figured you and your green friend could replicate its properties.”

Alec’s mouth parts and his widen. “What?”

“Get out,” Magnus says with an icy tone and a stony expression.

“Magnus –” Alec starts, but with a flick of his wrist, Magnus sends him stumbling onto the patio.

And instead of putting on his suit to protect him from whatever else Magnus wants to throw at him, he inexplicably follows him back into the apartment. Magnus is again facing the table, back to the balcony, and Alec joins him. He places his arms on the table of either side of Magnus and leaves them there, trapping him.

“Magnus,” he repeats softly.

Magnus turns quickly in his arms and Alec is surprised at what he sees. There’s no anger or heat, just hurt.

“You’ve never been a game,” he says, voice quiet. “I stay because of _you_. I want to help protect you.”

Alec hesitates then raises a hand to Magnus cheek and leans in to kiss him, though this time it’s sweet and tender with none of the heat and force from before.

“I don’t need protection,” Alec tells him after he pulls back, face only inches away.

“No?” Magnus asks with a raised eyebrow and lips quirking into a smile. “What happens the next time a supervillain tries to seduce you?”

Alec can’t help his smile. “I think I can take care of myself.”

Magnus opens his mouth to respond but they both hear an explosion in the city.

Alec sighs and reluctantly lets go of Magnus and sighs. “I need to go.”

“Go save the world, Ironman,” he tells Alec with a smile.

Alec nods and heads back towards his suit but turns back before he climbs in. “You’ll be here?” he asks, unsure.

Magnus gives him a fond but amused look. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Alec nods again then climbs back into his suit. Up goes the suit, up goes the walls. It’s time to be the acerbic, repressed asshole that the world knows as Ironman. But after he’s saved the world (again), he can come back to Magnus, who he thinks maybe (hopefully) doesn’t want to be the one destroying it anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> I accept no responsibility.
> 
> Also I was going to write it as 500 words as an experiment and with Steve Rogers' optimism, I thought I could do it. (Could not do it, very very much could not do it.)


End file.
